European Health Insurance Card EHIC: Complete Guide 2025

What the European Health Insurance Card (EHIC) actually is

The European Health Insurance Card (EHIC) is the document that proves you are entitled to medically necessary public healthcare while you are travelling temporarily inside the EU, the European Economic Area or Switzerland. Italians know it as the TEAM, printed on the reverse of the national health card. Same card, two names.

Here is the part most people miss. In Italy you never apply for it as a standalone document, because the EHIC sits on the back of your tessera sanitaria, the Italian health card that carries your codice fiscale (Italian tax code). If you are enrolled in the National Health Service, you already hold one.

What is printed on the front

Flip your Italian health card over and you will find:

• Your full name and surname
• Date of birth
• Personal identification number, which in Italy is the codice fiscale
• The card expiry date
• Identification number of the competent institution (your region)
• Country of issue (IT for Italy)

The card was never a stand-alone Italian invention. It grew out of the same identification framework that gave us the tax code under DPR 605/1973, the founding law behind the codice fiscale. Want to confirm the number on your card is even valid? You can run a quick validity check before you pack.

Where you can actually use it

The EHIC works in 31 European countries. In each one it buys you access to the public system on the same terms a local would get, no better and no worse.

European Union countries (27)

EEA countries plus Switzerland (4)

And one common misconception worth killing off early: the card is for travellers, not for people moving abroad. Relocating to live and work in another member state is a different legal situation entirely, with its own enrolment route in the local health system.

What it covers, and on whose terms

The promise is simple. You get medically necessary care during a temporary stay, charged exactly as it would be for a resident. If locals pay nothing, you pay nothing. If they pay a co-payment, so do you.

Services typically covered

• Emergency room: urgent and emergency treatment
• Doctor visits: consultations you genuinely need during the trip
• Hospital stays: for acute illness or injury
• Prescriptions: medication a doctor prescribes on the spot
• Dialysis: arranged in advance with a clinic in the host country
• Oxygen therapy: when it is needed mid-trip
• Pregnancy and childbirth: antenatal care and delivery if it cannot wait
• Ongoing chronic conditions: continuity of treatment you already receive

How the coverage works in practice

You walk in as a local would. That single principle has consequences:

• Free for residents means free for you
• A co-pay for residents means the identical co-pay lands on you
• It does not cover medical repatriation back to Italy
• It does not cover private clinics, only the public network

Paid for something that should have been free or discounted? Keep every receipt. You can claim reimbursement from your local Italian health authority once you are back, and the original paperwork is what makes that possible.

How to apply (and why you probably don't need to)

For Italian residents this section is shorter than you expect. The EHIC is baked into the tessera sanitaria, issued automatically to everyone enrolled in the National Health Service. There is no separate European application to file.

First issuance

The health card carrying the EHIC is produced by the Italian Revenue Agency (Agenzia delle Entrate) once you have a codice fiscale and you are registered with the National Health Service. It arrives by post at your registered address. If you have just received yours and the tax code looks off, our health card guide walks through every field on it.

Renewal

Renewal is automatic at expiry. If the new card never shows up, work through three steps in order:

1. Confirm your residential address with the municipal registry
2. Check the card status on the Italian Revenue Agency portal
3. Request a duplicate from your local health authority

Provisional card (the substitute EHIC)

Card expired, lost or chewed up by the washing machine, and you fly Tuesday? Ask your local health authority for a Provisional Replacement Certificate (PRC). It is valid for three months and carries the exact same weight as the EHIC abroad.

Validity and renewal of the EHIC

The validity of the health card, and therefore of the EHIC on its back, depends on who you are:

• Italian citizens: six years
• Resident EU citizens: tied to the residence document
• Non-EU citizens: tied to the expiry of the residence permit

Reading the expiry date

Look for the "Expiry date" field on the card. Always check it before you leave, because a card that lapses the week of your trip is a problem nobody enjoys discovering at an airport pharmacy.

What to do if it has already expired

1. Check whether the automatic renewal has already been issued
2. Request the Provisional Replacement Certificate from your health authority
3. Failing that, buy travel health insurance to bridge the gap

A small habit that saves a lot of grief: while you are confirming the date, take thirty seconds to decode the tax code printed on the card and make sure the personal details behind it match yours.

What to do when something goes wrong abroad

Nobody plans to get sick on holiday. But if you do, the sequence is short and worth memorising before you need it.

In a genuine emergency

1. Call 112: the European emergency number, live in every EU country
2. Show your EHIC: at the emergency room or to the treating doctor
3. Hold on to everything: receipts, prescriptions, discharge reports

For non-urgent care

Planned visits and minor problems follow a calmer path:

• Find a public healthcare provider, not a private one
• Present the EHIC at registration
• Pay any co-payment exactly as a local resident would

Limitations and exclusions you should plan around

This is the section that prevents nasty surprises. The EHIC has real boundaries, and the gap between what people assume it covers and what it actually covers is where holidays go sideways.

What the EHIC does not cover

• Medical repatriation: flying you home is not included, and an air ambulance can cost tens of thousands of euros
• Private care: public facilities only
• Treatment that can wait: anything postponable until you return
• Cosmetic procedures: non-essential interventions
• Medical tourism: trips taken specifically to get treatment
• Mountain and sea rescue: frequently excluded
• Ambulance transport: sometimes billed, depending on the country

Practical tips for travellers

A handful of small moves make the card far more useful when you are standing in a foreign clinic, jet-lagged and not at your sharpest.

Before you leave

• Check the expiry date
• Photograph both sides of the card
• Store the photos in the cloud so you can reach them even if the physical card stays in the hotel safe
• Note the emergency numbers for your destination
• Decide whether you want supplementary travel insurance

While you are away

• Keep the card on you
• Ask for written documentation every time you receive treatment
• Hang on to all medical receipts
• When in doubt, call your Italian health authority or the embassy

When you get back

• If you paid out of pocket, file a reimbursement claim with your local health authority
• Submit original receipts and the medical paperwork
• Reimbursement follows the tariffs of the country you visited, not Italian ones

Frequently asked questions

Do I need to apply separately for the European Health Insurance Card (EHIC) in Italy?

No. In Italy the EHIC is printed on the back of your tessera sanitaria, the health card that already carries your codice fiscale. Anyone enrolled in the National Health Service receives it automatically, so there is no second application to make.

Is the EHIC the same thing as travel insurance?

Not at all, and treating them as interchangeable is a costly mistake. The EHIC only opens the door to public healthcare on local terms. It will not repatriate you, cover a private clinic or refund a cancelled flight, which is exactly what travel insurance is for.

Does my Italian EHIC still work in the United Kingdom?

For new trips, no. Since 1 January 2021 the Italian card no longer covers stays in the UK. You will need private travel health insurance to be protected there.

What if my card expires right before I travel?

Check first whether the automatic renewal has already been sent. If it has not, request a Provisional Replacement Certificate from your local health authority. It lasts three months and works abroad just like the full card.

How do I know the tax code on my card is correct?

Compare the printed details against an independent calculation. You can verify the code in seconds with our tax code checker and spot a transcription error before it causes trouble at a hospital desk.

Will I have to pay anything when I use the card?

Possibly. You pay whatever a local resident pays. In some countries that is nothing; in others there is a standard co-payment for the same service. If you are charged for care that should have been free, keep the receipt and claim it back in Italy.